‘Affront to democracy’

Unite urged more MPs to join the dozens who have backed Labour MP Chuka Umunna’s call to strip Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd – a firm implicated in the construction blacklisting scandal – of its contract for restoration work on Big Ben.

Umunna today (October 13) tabled a Parliamentary motion, signed by 60 MPs, which calls on the government to instead give the Big Ben contract to a company with no historical involvement in the blacklisting scandal, which saw thousands of construction workers denied work – some for decades – because they raised health and safety issues or were involved in trade unions.

Sir Robert McAlpine was in fact one of the primary architects of the construction worker blacklist – it helped found and fund the Consulting Association, which put together the blacklist, and two people from the company also served as Consulting Association chairs.

After the blacklist was first discovered, senior figures at the company also allegedly colluded to cover it up. Although Sir Robert McAlpine has been subject to litigation and admitted it guilt over blacklisting in 2016, not one director has yet been held to account.

ÂŁ30m taxpayer bill

Taxpayers are footing a more than £30m bill to restore Big Ben and are paying Sir Robert McAlpine, a company still tied up in lawsuits over the blacklisting scandal – a company that’s also a major donor to the Tory party – to undertake the work.

Umunna previously raised the issue of the Big Ben contract in a Commons debate on contemporary blacklisting in September.

During the debate, Conservative MP Margot James explicitly refused to answer questions from multiple MPs over the Big Ben contract.

“Big Ben is a national symbol of our democracy,” Ummuna said today. “Awarding the contract for work on Big Ben to Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd is an insult to the victims of blacklisting in the construction sector.

“People can lose faith in politics if injustices are left unchallenged and our public institutions do not lead by example,” he added. “Awarding the contract for this symbolic work to a company that was at the heart of blacklisting construction workers both undermines our democracy and leaves us looking out of touch as an institution.

“We are calling on the House of Commons and Lords Commissions to rethink their decision, and award the contract for this symbolic work to another construction company that does not have a history of involvement in blacklisting.”

Wrong message

Shadow minister for business, energy, and industrial strategy Jack Dromey MP, who himself was previously blacklisted said that “to be denied work because you are a trade unionist or you have raised health and safety concerns is an affront to democracy”.

“Blacklisting is not history; it is a scandal that has never gone away,” he noted. “Forty years ago I was blacklisted by the Economic League. I was lucky and only out of work for a matter of months, but tens of thousands of others paid a very heavy price, some of them for decades.

“Awarding Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd the contract for work on Big Ben – a symbol of our democracy – sends a message that firms can engage in unacceptable practices like blacklisting without serious consequences.”

Unite assistant general secretary Howard Beckett called on more MPs to back Umunna’s call to strip Sir Robert McAlpine of the Big Ben contract.

“Unite is currently suing Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd on behalf of victims of blacklisting having forced them and other construction firms to apologise and pay compensation after our lawsuit exposed their role in blacklisting last year,” he said.

“The Elizabeth tower and Big Ben are emblematic of the nation’s democracy and sense of fair play to the rest of the world. It is a stain on our democracy that a firm with a history of blacklisting and ruining lives should be awarded such a contract.

“We urge other MPs to back this call for the House of Commons and Lords Commissions to strip Sir Robert McAlpine Ltd of the contract. It is simply reprehensible that a firm that was engaged in the pernicious practice of blacklisting should be allowed to fill its coffers at the taxpayers’ expense.”

Contemporary blacklisting

The awarding of Sir Robert McAlpine the Big Ben contract has happened against a backdrop of continuing contemporary blacklisting.

In the contemporary blacklisting debate last month, Umunna put forward evidence from Unite of blacklisting practices in the Crossrail project.

Unite has sent information to the Information Commissioners Office (ICO), concerning the way in which the publicly funded Crossrail project disseminates information of anyone demonstrating outside of their sites following a peaceful demonstration at a Crossrail site in 2016.

Two construction workers involved were subject to surveillance and later were unable to find additional work through Crossrail.

The ICO has said the “collection of this type of data is potentially excessive”. In the view of the ICO “it raises the possibility that surveillance is being undertaken without appropriate checks and balances in place.”

It has even been alleged that one Crossrail sub-contractor actually told Unite that the consequences of him employing a Unite member would be the refusal of future work.

Unite assistant general secretary Gail Cartmail urged members to come forward if they think they’ve been blacklisted.

“Unite continues to encourage members to report extreme vetting and contemporary blacklisting that continues to blight the industry,” she said. “There is still widespread denial at the top of systemic victimisation of union members and we are determined to win the campaign for a full and independent inquiry.”

Do you believe that you may be a victim of blacklisting? Find out how Unite can help here.